KRSESQ: Should be room somewhere on that list for Ikari XB1. 1963 Czechoslovakian offering with cheesy-as-hell special effects and a genuinely compelling story. (Remember to turn on subtitles.)

Somewhere on that list was a link to the "10 Must See Sci Fi Films you've Never Heard Of." They mentioned Ikari XB-1 on that list.

It was nice to see they included Demon Seed there too. A psychologically uncomfortable battle of wits between a scientist's wife and the AI that wants to impregnate her and create a new life form. (That and the computer uses a gigantic Rubik's Snake to kill people. Awesome!)

I would have liked to have seen Colossus: The Forbin Project on the list as well. I always thought that movie ended at the most interesting part--once it took over the earth and established its control over humanity. I wondered how mankind would deal with a godlike entity whom they were physically forced to obey. Would its rule be oppressive, or would humanity finally find peace and happiness at the cost of its own freedom?

One more film I would have liked to have seen on the Obscure Sci Fi Films list is GOG (1954)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047033/

It was years ahead of its time. It featured killer robots and an AI running amok at an underground facility and killing people (men and women) willy nilly in all sorts of gruesome ways. I'm kind of surprised the movie has sunk so far into obscurity-I would have thought it would have made a greater impression on people.

andrewabc: Umm, they had Inception, but not Paprika? Which was Satoshi Kon magnum opus, and released before Inception.

I assume this list is limited to 'American" films only?

I havn't read Hunger Games or seen the movie, although I didn't think it was categorized as scifi.

It's a distopian sci-fi. There was a lot of advanced technology in the books and the movie, just none that was in use by the main characters. People that didn't see that in the movie are....unobservant(others think it should be gone from the list as well..that did see it). The Games control room was kind of awesome. The Games itself looked like normal woods, but in reality of the books it really was not, it's a stage, planned and prepped in meticulous detail. The scope of it will come out in the next movie if they stay faithful to the book(Islands that spin, the mega shield over it all(central to back story and continuation to the third book), on which the pictures are cast upon at night, use of hovercraft and the crazy-ish traps on the islands, etc)

Much of the story would have to be revamped if not for the science FICTION aspect, as where you take a lot of favored sci-fi, and you could simply put them in boats and subs instead of spaceships.

Only real issue I had with the list was Avatar, barring obvious misses as discussed, like 5th Element.
Also, really old movies. Sci-Fi is as old as Frankenstein really, the "first" movies really don't deserve much recognition for pioneering in a specific medium unless they are quality works. Much of the old movies I can't stand to watch, same reason I don't watch 80's tv shows regularly. The art of acting or writing for film just wasn't as ironed out back then, and most of the movies are a painful watch. Some were convincing enough for their time, but just have not aged well, some weren't even that convincing in their day.

Remember Max Headroom just being cool? Go back and watch them today. Pure agony that you have to wade through, attempting to ignore the elephant in the room to try and get some of the bigger concepts. It did have some eerie concepts, such as reality TV taking over...

Snowflake Tubbybottom: [cdn-8.nflximg.com image 284x405]


I'll be in my bunk.

Mathilda May spends the entire movie walking around naked. What's not to like?

I agree with most of that list, but honestly I still can't stay awake during Blade Runner.

22. 'District 9′
21. '2001: A Space Odyssey'

Stopped reading after this.

Moon should be top ten

Wall-E shouldn't be in the top 50, especially if Prometheus isn't.

Inception isn't a science fiction movie, include a magical dream-entering machine in the story doesn't qualify.

/I love it when these perfunctory "list" articles get greened, not because of the articles, but from the comments that ensue. Found a lot of interesting movies from you Farkers decrying some omission.
//this one is no exception

Serenity, Splice, and The Fountain all sucked.

War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, Robocop, The Andromeda Strain are all infinitely better films.

/Fail list is fail

Most of you have listed movies I agree with should be added. What about Stargate? I've always liked that one.

traylor: I don't know if it qualifies for sci-fi, but

[clzimages.com image 420x559]

That qualifies as Sci-Fi more than Donnie Darko does.

I'm 45/50 (I missed Splice, The Fountain, Attack the Block, The Iron Giant and Hunger Games)

The biggest omission in my mind is the 1953 War of the Worlds. It is every bit as big a deal as The Forbidden Planet or the original Body Snatchers.

Starship Troopers should be replaced with Robocop.

I love the 5th Element . I think of it as more of a popcorn flick than Sci-Fi (despite the setting). It is one of my top 10 favorite movies ever. I would certainly put it in place of any of the movies I haven't seen on the list, but I wouldn't rank it above 25.

Akira belongs on that list along with Ghost in the Shell. Both were groundbreaking and good Sci-Fi as well.

GAT_00: Techhell: GAT_00: Mugato: Techhell: GAT_00: Techhell: that abortion of a Star Trek movie on this list.

Hipster Trekkies always amuse me.

I don't think I've ever been accused of being a Hipster, ever. Wow.

Please, elabourate - how am I being a Hipster, so that I may be able to see exactly what I need to do in the future to continue being a Hipster.


I'm confused. Is one a hipster because he doesn't consider the new Star Trek to be real sci-fi or if he a hipster because he is a fan of the new Star Trek?

I reserve that comment for people who hated the new movie, but are Star Trek fans. People seem to hate it simply because it was popular.

So how exactly am I a hipster? I'm waiting on a response for that comment.

Dislike because it's popular = Hipster.

I disliked it because it pretty much sucked balls. Popularity had nothing to do with it.

...Oh, and how the f*ck did they miss The Time Machine (1960)? You can't get more classic Sci-Fi than that movie.

I saw 43 of the 50.
I am in agreement with adding The Black Hole, the last big amazing gasp of old Disney special effects. What about The Forbidden Planet?

No Andromeda Strain (original)?

Since this has almost turned into an anime thread. If you havn't seen this anime suggestion list before, check it out. Just noticed there are more updated versions of this out there as well.

Also, Ghost in a Shell is awesome. Enjoyed tv shows and second movie. Havn't watched GitS 2.0 yet (yes I know just some updated visuals).

I know I'm probably in the minority but I always saw Star Wars as more Fantasy than Sci-fi.

SharkTrager: I know I'm probably in the minority but I always saw Star Wars as more Fantasy than Sci-fi.

Hardly anything in the Star Wars set of products was sci-fi.

andrewabc: Since this has almost turned into an anime thread. If you havn't seen this anime suggestion list before, check it out. Just noticed there are more updated versions of this out there as well.

Also, Ghost in a Shell is awesome. Enjoyed tv shows and second movie. Havn't watched GitS 2.0 yet (yes I know just some updated visuals).

That anime list (since it includes series) really should include Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. That right there is War and Peace scope of story and telling.

American Decency Association: no love for The Abyss?

Nope.

A "Should Watch" list isn't the same as a "50 best" list.

The movies you "should watch" would be the under appreciated ones from over the years or ones that represent landmark changes in the Genre.

Event Horizon, Ghost in the Shell, The Fountain, Destination Moon, etc. Movies that not every geek has seen.

This type of list shouldn't include hits like Star Wars or The Fifth Element because everyone has seen them.

When Star Wars, Episode IV is better than 2001, you know you're looking at a shiatty list.Mr. Potatoass: 2001

Me too.
2001 should have been in the top 5.
Methinks this list was written by someone raised on video games.

Toshiro Mifune's Letter Opener: Ricardo Klement: The plot is a good one: an insane scientist may have come across how to transit a black hole and survive the event. His ship - the long-lost USS Cygnus - is equipped with an anti-grav device not seen before, and his crew is missing. In the meantime, a deep-space exploration ship, Palomino, on its way back is diverted to check out the black hole when they find the ship, keeping station near the point of no return. It turns out the insane scientist is more insane than they would like, and they need to get the fark out of there.

You can do a LOT with that.

It sounds infinitely better than Event Horizon, so I'll give it points for that.

The ending of that movie was just bizzare though

timujin: -3: Spliced, The Fountain and Attack the Block. As none of those are available on Netflix, I guess my failure as a geek will have to continue.

50 movies. None available for streaming. Sounds like a buy.

Mister Peejay: Techhell:

At least Unobtanium sounds vaguely scientific, even if it's a scientific joke.

It's not a scientific joke. I've seen it in reference to impossible-to-find car parts in the mid-80s. It probably dates far further back than that, and from other fields of interest.

FARKING THANK YOU.

That asshole stole a word from car forums and ruined it. I casually used it soon after the movie came out and got a, "really, dude, Avatar?" response.

I want that word back, dammit.

Also: Haven't read the list yet... They Live and Alien Nation are on it, right?

/ If we consider the time they were released, 2001 should be #1 on every list, evar
// full of vodak so those may be bad suggestions

dittybopper: List fails without *THE* best science fiction film ever put to celluloid. A film that hasn't gotten the recognition it deserves. A film that has so many layers, that decades of scholarship have yet to peel back all of its intricacies. I'm talking, of course, about the cinematic opus that is Galaxina.

Interesting, Galaxina is on IFC at 2:15 a.m. tonight/Monday morning. I will record it! Looking it up on IMDb, I see it gets a 3.0 rating. Hey, at least it has Dorothy Stratten (not nude).

As for the missing films from the list: Fifth Element, War of the Worlds (1953), The Time Machine (1960), Gattaca, and probably RoboCop. Forbidden Planet needs to be a LOT higher than 36! It's not only one of the best sci-fi films ever, it's one of the best films of any genre...ever.

Mentioned above but list fails without Fantastic Voyage and Mad Max/Road Warrior.

Every geek should also watch Dark Star.

West World
A Boy and His Dog
Quatermass and the Pit

Not a perfect list, but not bad for a top 50. I'd really like to see "Contact" and "Gattaca" on there, and both ranked highly.